408 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. February 21, 1913. drill-bit clamping die, and showing the operating piston and extension thereon which carries the lower drill-bit clamping die. (Five claims.) 1945 (1912). Improvements in and relating to Drill-bit Sharpening and Forming Machines. J. G-. Leyner, of 1707, Glenarm-street, Denver, Colorado.—This invention relates to improvements in drill-bit sharpening machines, and the object is: To (provide in a drill-bit sharpening machine that is provided with a fluid operated drill-bit gripping and holding vise and a drill-bit (sharpening dolly arranged in sharpening relation to drill bits held in said vise and driven by a fluid operated engine, means by whieh the dolly can yield and combat eccentric and lateral strains imposed on it when striking uneven ended drill bits without danger of breaking the dolly or its supporting, driving and co-acting mechanism. See illustrations to No. 1943 of 1912 above. (Eight claims.) 2134 (1912). Improvements in Hammer Drills. J. M. Holman and J. L. Holman, both of Camborne, Cornwall.— This invention relates to rock drills of the hammer type provided with a feed cylinder operated by air pressure, and to that class of such drill wherein the distributing valve is arranged transversely to the axis of w the hammer cylinder and operated by the pressure of the motive fluid, the object being to improve the arrangement of the valve mechanism for distributing and controlling the air supply. According to the invention, the distributing valve, which is of the piston type and has one end larger than the other, is Ftg 3 Ik provided with a collar of the same diameter as the larger end of the piston and with recesses on either side of the game, the recess on the side adjacent to the small end of the valve being hereinafter referred to as the narrow recess, and on the other side, adjacent to the larger end of the piston, as the broad recess. In the large end of the piston valve a series of circumferential openings is formed which com- municate with a central passage in the valve, and in the bottom of the narrow recess another set of openings is formed which also communicate with the said passage. In the walls of the chest are formed an inlet port which communicates with the broad recess, a second port which communicates with the rear end of the hammer cylinder, and a third port which communicates with the front end of the said cylinder; a fourth port serves to place the chamber at the small end of the valve in constant communication with the air supply, a fifth port places the chamber at the large end of the valve in communication with the rear end of the main cylinder, and a sixth port places the said chamber in communication with the front end of the main cylinder. The exhaust port is arranged around the small end of the valve. Fig. 1 is a longitudinal central section of a drill having the improve- ments applied to it; fig. 2 is a section on the line 2—2, fig. 1; and fig. 3 is a viewjsimilar to fig. 1, but showing the parts in different positions. (Three claims.) 2680 (1912). Improved Means of and Apparatus for Promoting the Combustion of Fuel and Effecting the Consump- tion of Smoke in Steam Boiler and like Furnaces. B. Hardy, of 39, Tontine-street, Windsor Bridge, Salford, Lancashire. The invention relates to apparatus for regulating the air supply of steam boiler furnaces of that type in which the air space behind the fire bridge is regulated by means of a vertical damper or plate operated by a rod extending to the front of the furnace so as to vary the air supply to the furnace. It consists in arranging the vertical damper or regulator to move over a suitable slotted base plate mounted upon a hollow fire bridge, and thereby cover or uncover an opening formed in the said plate for the admission of air to the furnace and vary the air space between the said damper and a front plate adjacent to the back ends of the firebars. The accompanying drawing is a longitudinal section of a steam boiler furnace with the invention applied. (Three claims.) 12798 (1912). Binsing Device for Rock Drilling-hammers H. Kliipfel, Fuchsstrasse, 28, Unter-Barmen, Germany.— This invention relates to rinsing devices for rock drilling- hammers or percussion drills of the type in which one end of the operative tool receives a rapid succession of blows from a piston which is separate from said tool and which reciprocates in the casing of the machine relatively to said tool. According to the invention the rinsing water is fed through an annular groove in the guide-sleeve of the piston-shank, which groove shortly before the end of the working stroke comes into communication with a passage in the piston-shank, which passage continually communi- cates with the rinsing passage of the tool, either directly when the piston shank abuts against the end of the tool or indirectly, before such abutment takes place, through the space between the end of the piston-shank and the end of said tool. On account of the fact that the annular groove in the guide-sleeve of the piston-shank communicates with the above-mentioned passage in the piston-shank only shortly before and shortly after the end of the working stroke, the rinsing water is unable to fill the space between the end of the piston-shank and the end of the tool before the former abuts against the latter, and consequently the rinsing water in said space is unable to provide any detrimental cushioning action which would occur if the rinsing water were admitted to said space too early in the working stroke. Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a rock drilling-hammer, the piston being in its backward position; and fig. 2 a longitudinal section, the piston being in the position which it occupies shortly before the end of the working stroke. (One claim.) 16340 (1912). Improvements in or relating to Compressed- air Hauling Winches. Firm Rud. Meyer, Aktien-Gesell- schaft fur Maschinen- und Bergbau, 31, Aktienstrasse, Mulheim-Ruhr, Germany.—In compound compressed-air engines, it has been previously proposed to arrange between the high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders a heating device in the form of a drum provided with a number of internal tubes through which atmospheric air is drawn, whereby the compressed-air admitted to the low-pressure cylinder is raised considerably in temperature. The invention consists in the application of this procedure to mine winches. The compressed air escaping from the high- pressure cylinder of the winch is exposed, in an intermediate tank of very large surface, to the action of the warm mine air, before being admitted into the low-pressure cylinder. Owing to the high temperature of the air in the mine, it is possible, when using a sufficiently large intermediate tank, which can always be arranged next to the winch, to obtain an efficacious heating of the compressed air. Any vitiation of the air in the mine is avoided, and the said air is on the contrary cooled in a desirable manner. The intermediate heater preferably consists of a large vessel through which pass tubes open at both sides, so that there is produced a large surface of action for the mine air passing through the tubes. The drawing shows by way of example a construc- tion in which the compressed air from the high-pressure cylinder a enters, through the tube b, the intermediate heater c from which it escapes through the tube d in order to pass into the low-pressure cylinder e. The mine air gives off its heat to the compressed air contained in the boiler, not only at the circumference of the latter, but also in the tubes f. (Two claims.) 2u977 (1912). Improvements in and relating to Couplings for Colliery Trams or Corves. J. H. Jones, 16, Ramsden- street, Rhymney, Monmouthshire.—This invention concerns improvements in and relating to couplings for colliery trams or corves; and, more particularly, to an improved device having for its object the prevention of the shackle pin of an ordinary dee shackle, for coupling trams in mines, from jerking vertically through the jaws of the dee. Fig. 1 shows an elevation of the dee of a tram shackle with the invention applied thereto; fig. 2 shows a plan thereof. The shackle pin A is formed with enlarged head B resting on the surface of the upper jaw of the dee. At positions coincident with the middle of the jaws of the dee, when the pin is thus placed, the shackle pin is provided with projecting radial feathers C D, and is formed with a third projecting feather E to catch under the bottom jaw. The three feathers C, D, E are vertically in line. At the near side of the eye of the lower jaw a key way F is formed right through the jaw for the purpose of withdrawing the two lower feathers. Vertically above the said key way, another G is formed in the upper jaw extending from the top of the jaw to the middle thereof for withdrawing the feather C. Circular grooves or channels H, K, opening into the holes in the jaws, are made in the upper and lower jaw respectively, permitting of the feathers C, D being turned around within the jaws. The stiffening pin L of the dee is formed with a squared head M, and a handle loop N is pivoted to the head B of the pin and bent as at O to nicely drop over the head M. While the said loop N thus engages with the head M the feathers cannot be turned involuntarily into position under the keyways, and the plurality of feathers adds, by multiplying friction, to the safety of the shackle. (One claim.) 21028 (1912). Improvements in Controlling Gear for Winding and Hauling Engines and the like. Worsley Mesnes Ironworks Limited, of Worsley Mesnes Ironworks, Wigan, Lancashire, and W. H. Bedford, of 10a, Hardy butts, Wigan, aforesaid.—This invention relates to improvements in controlling gear for winding and hauling engines and the like, and has for its object to provide mechanism which will close the supply of steam, electric current or other source of power, and apply the brakes to a winding engine, hauling 24 —9 y w- 15— 15 — 2—1 IO - r-F 19 6- 16- —100 -ZZ 10 —9 ZX-4. ----8 '■23 21 k -41 -----A i0 c io-fl AO 28 's 29 ( engine, hoist and the like if the speed of such engine exceeds the predetermined limit, and if the engine is started to run in the wrong direction, or wind or haul beyond predeter- mined points. Fig. 1 is a front elevation, and fig. 2 is a side elevation of the improved controlling gear. By arranging the extensions of the governor arms and their connecting links to the first sliding sleeve on the governor spindle in such manner that the said connections are in straight lines, or nearly so, when the governor is in its closed position, the governor balls have a greater leverage to compress the spring when the speed is low and the balls have almost completed their inward movement. (Six claims.) 23857 (1912). Improvements in or relating to the Congealing ' of Shifting Sand in the Sinking of Mine Shafts. E. Coppee Fils, of Ressaix, Belgium.—This invention has for its object ! a process of partial congealing, which is confined practically j to beds of loose sand found above the coal formation, and it consists in carrying out the congealing preliminaries and i operations from below—that is to say, from the base of the bed to be traversed, while making use of a neighbouring Continued on page 410.